Red Clouds
by two.missing.nins
Summary: Four extraordinarily talented kunoichi converge for a common goal: To annihilate a certain darkcloaked Sclass organization. No pairings, two authors. All characters are original.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a collaborative story between our two rad authors, Freckles and Green. It's a non-romance, so it you're looking for pairings, there shall be none of those here. The story's also on quizilla, username two.missing.nins . We might update there more often.**

**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not us.**

Part One--ROBIN

The grass sighed as the wind passed though it, and for a second, the rippling ground was all water. In the distance, the plains gave to hills which turned into mountains on the horizon, fading into the fog. A path snaked through the grass and into the nearby woods. A boy-- no, a short-haired girl --walked along the path with startling quiet, away from the village hidden in Stone.

She reached a place where the path branched off into two forks. The girl paused momentarily, and in the quiet of the night, she set off along the southeast prong with her footsteps stirring up little clouds behind her.

i Sloping land, covered in trees. Two dark-clad figures carry a sack between them. A large sack. A _wriggling_ sack. /i

The girl shuddered a little and walked faster, with more urgency. "It's best to head towards the center," she murmured. "And I have at least one goal in the south." She shifted her bag from her left shoulder to her right and slowed down again. Anything else that she may have said was lost in the wind as she passed through the trees and out of sight.

Part Two--LIA

I remember the snow. I was running down to my complex; I remember the snow daisies I had picked for nii-san. I remember that, for some reason, I thinking about sand. There wasn't sand in the village hidden in the Sound, at least not in winter, when snow covered the ground.  
Now that I think of it, there wasn't red sand, either.

I stumbled into the house shivering, my teeth chattering. There was a red-haired boy that I had never met before. He was looking at me, and I looked back, then ran behind a couch. I peered at him over the back of my cover. He smiled. I smiled back.

He laughed.

I kept smiling.

I thought he was nice. I held out my flowers to him. He took them, and I was so sure we could be friends. But suddenly, in one liquid motion, he ripped the flowers off of their stems and threw them on the floor, crushing them under his boot.

A tiny gasp escaped my throat on its own accord. He laughed again, but with malice this time. I looked at the flowers. The once-white, beautiful petals were stained red. So were his boots. Actually, a good part of the floor was red. And the splashes on the walls, a few flecks on the ceiling: red. It was all red. I darted past the man whom I had thought was so kind. I saw a mass of black. I thought it was ash, but I didn't see any smoke. Curiosity mixed with my fear, and I stepped closer to the pile.

It wasn't possible! They were all massacred! I could still see traces of our bloodline limit in their dulled eyes.

My name is Tsuchi Lia, and don't even try and mess with me, because I'll mess you up worse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not us.**

Part One--LIA

I waited in the snow for the man to leave. I watched him trek outside in those blood spattered boots. My family was with him. They were following him. I didn't  
understand. My family was gone. Dead. They were not supposed to be walking peacefully with this treachorous man. I didn't like it, but if I followed, I was dead, too.

I activated my blood line limit. The snow didn't feel cold anymore. It was either because my touch had been nulled, but it might have been that I was numb. I squinted at the moving, bloody herd. I saw thin black lines formed on all  
my relatives. Puppet-like. I hated it. But if my family couldn't defeat him, then what could I, a small twelve year old, do?

Nothing is right.

To go back in the house would be like reliving this experience. I should just go and leave. Maybe I could find a way to avenge myself. But I knew it wouldn't  
work. I needed to leave before Orochimaru killed me for not being able to kill that man.

I had to go back in. But I couldn't. I debated with myself for a long time. I might not be able to come back. I should go. But to see it? I couldn't. It  
was getting dark. That was when the house inspection came. I ran into the house. The scent of blood screwed with my vision. I stumbled but caught myself.

I ran into my room and slammed the door. I grabbed my weapons pouch and shoved in ever weapon I owned. I took a kunai and sliced open my piggy bank. Not a lot.  
I ran into every room and sliced open wherever I smelt money. I had collected enough to live off for a while. I crashed back into my room and changed from my waterlogged clothes into all black. I grabbed a napsack and grabbed  
everything I could.

A window broke downstairs. I heard a stick being tossed on the floor. I smelt smoke. Fire.

Damn.

I ran down the stairs, no escape. They must have thought we all died. I sat on the top of the stairs, looking into the fire. My life would be over if I didn't think. I formed the tiger seal. It always helped me think. If I used  
the clothes that were wet...

The clothes were on my old bed. I grabbed the clothes and dragged them with me. I threw them over the fire, creating a walk way. I ran over it into the embracing darkness. The road seemed far away. I hated that road.

As I stepped on the road, I noticed a scent off in the distance. Konoha's gates.I seemed like I should be there. The wind gently pushed me foward, urging me to go on. I accepted, and started in the opposite direction of the familiar scent of family, that was off to the west.

Away from the familiar road, into the west.

Part Two--ROBIN

Life was okay in Iwagakure. We had plenty of missions, so we weren't a poor country. Several of our shinobi were incredibly talented, and the Tsuchikage wasn't unjust or moronic. However, we didn't get as many missions as some other countries, and we did have rations and limits on consumption. Although the Tsuchikage wasn't an idiot, he wasn't particularitly bright, either, and did little to better our situation.

If I had to choose a word to describe Iwagakure, it would probably be apathy. Not on the part of the villagers or anything, but on my own behalf. I felt no real love for my country, but I served it just the same. I had several sets of teammates, and although I protected them during missions, I made no attempts to bond with them, and that suited us all fine. My days were set in routine and my nights were spent dreaming.

And I had the weirdest dreams.

You know that feeling you get when you swear you've done something before? Deja vous? They say it's a chemical imbalance in your brain that triggers it. I say they're wrong. Whenever I get deja vous, and it happens a lot, it's because it actually has happened before. In my dreams. And it's not just little things like conversations or walks in the streets. It's bigger things, like important missions. My dreams are the part of me that isn't routine. I never tell anyone about it because, quite frankly, they don't need to know.

But I had a dream about me leaving the village, and I dreamed something even bigger would happen after that. But the problem with dreams is, they're kinda vague like that. I don't know that the big that's supposed to happen is. So now that I've left hte village, I'll just do what I'll do, because I know whatever the thing is will happen.

It always does.


	3. Chapter 3

**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not us.**

Chapter Three--LIA

My stomach growled. I growled back at it. I am not persuadable. After two days with out food, my pace was slowing. Being a genin, I wasn't used to such missions. My stomach complained again. I thought about taking a kunai and  
ripping it out, but I think that would be sort of bad. I decided against that move. Fine! Stupid stomach. I hated it. I needed some stupid food.

I decided to pretend to be a jounin. My mission: food. I did all the handseals to pretend to be cool. I felt like I was being a poser. Forget it. I hate being a stupid jounin. All I want is some food.

Kekkai Tokoshi activated.

My leopard senses perked. With my ears on the ground, I measured the calculations of the rivers distance.

Thirty degrees south, forty degrees to the left. About 20 kilometers off. I started to walk. Hm, how to kill the fish?

Kunai? No, used that last week.

Shuriken? No, that's like kunai.

Bows and arrows? I'll make some later.

How about a net? Yes! A net, I haven't gone old fashioned yet!

What to use for netting? How about leaves? Worth a try. I gathered a bunch of leaves and started to sew them together with a rock. The rock wasn't sharp enough.

"STUPID ROCK!" I threw it at a tree.

I hit the tree and made a mark. I picked up another rock and started to throw it at the mark. It hit perfectly, making a bigger dent. I opened my weapons pouch. I threw a senpon needle at it. Center- marked.

I took a couple of kunai, and threw them at the mark. I hit the mark at the same time. Center- marked.

SWEETNESS!

Maybe I'll start that bow and arrows sooner. I searched around my tree. I found a good branch. Sitting in the tree, I used a kunai to shape the form of a bow, I got bored after a few minutes. I'll do something else.

String? I need string. There wasn't string in the forest.

My stomach growled. I pinched my stomach in frusturation. Fine! I'll go and get some food. I walked toward the river. I could here from the start. It never seemed to get any closer. I started running. Nope the sound never got any  
closer. I rubbed my furry ears. I couldn't sense anything wrong. I closed my eyes. I took in a deep breath. Gen-jutsu. I was so stupid! What a moron! Not to notice this stupid jutsu.

"Come the hell out. I know you are there," I yelled.

"Finally, the little Nekito Girl figured me out," a maniacal laugh followed.

"Nekito? That's just as stupid as this jutsu!" I yelled back, only one person had ever called me that. "I can laugh maniacally too!"

"Then let's here it!" the voice seemed to be coming from all directions.

I chuckled a little. He laughed. I laughed louder. He laughed louder, trying to beat me. I screamed, pretending to be afraid. He laughed like it was a joke. He had fallen for it. I knew his precise location, thanks to my ears and nose. I chuckled, what a moron! He thinks I'm just a little "Nekito"? I'm much more then that. After my new discovery, I but I could seriously injure this fool in one move. Wait, I sound like a conceited brat. Crap, I better start acting like a scared little kid.

"Please, come out Mister!" I shouted, cowering by the tree.

I saw a familiar shape jump in front of me.

"I never thought that you would come looking for me!" I said to my old freind. I hadn't seen him in two years, since the day I left.

"I came to kill you," was his cold reply.

"Why! I didn't do anything to you!" I cried. I heard more footsteps, I knew what they were trying to do. Shiro and Laelani. Shiro was my former friend. He was one of those mysterious people, that didn't trust anyone. I could relate now. But Laelani was a master genjustu. She was one of those deceiving people who acted nice infront of parents, but was a totally fiend to everyone else. But for some reason, I somehow she was my best friend, along with Shiro. I formed plans in my head, hoping that they would work.

"You kept us from the chuunin exams! We could have been higher. We are chuunin level!" He snarled, pulling out four shuriken.

"I'm sorry! Don't kill me, I might kill you instead." That was the wrong thing to say. I had let them know that I had power. Stupid, moronic me.

"Kill me? I don't think so! You're just a girl who has nothing on me," he laughed again.

"It's not smart to make me mad," The madder I got, the more vengeful I felt. I always had the feeling to break something hard, say an arm or two, when I got too angry.

"You can't ever amount to anything! I mean look at your clan! You guys are complete failures! I mean, if it was my clan, we would have taken out that man, like that!" Shiro snapped his fingers.

No one talks about my nii-san like that. I stooped over for a rock. I recognized the rock. It was the rock I had tried to make the net out of. I smirked, leaning against the tree, knowing that it was good luck.

"Hit me, you have three shots. I won't attack, but try to hit me," I smirked.

"Fine!" Shiro took out a kunai. He raised it, throwing it at my heart. I stepped to the side, it missed me by inches. I acted like I wasn't fazed. He had gotten better. He could have killed me while I wasn't paying attention. I heard Laelani footsteps creak closer. She hadn't gotten any stealthier-

Another kunai grazed my left leopard ear. I got into a defensive stance, I would kill Shiro if I needed to, I would hate myself, but I would. Blood tripped onto my nose, but I didn't care. AnyTHING that insulted my family was going down. Shiro smirked, picking out a single senbon needle. He held inbetween his fore and middle fingers, before throwing it at my heart. I watched it in slow motion as I tried to dodge it. It hit and went through my lower right wrist. I winced, knowing it would now be a challenge to fight such a loser. Being right handed sucked.

"You are so lame," He laughed really loud, obviously trying to cover up Laelani's noise. It didn't work, her position was west 60 degrees and south 10 degrees, about two kilometers off. I used a poison need to wrap my hair in a  
messy bun, and put another three unpoisoned needles in my mouth.

"I bet you'll be dumb enough to swallow them," Shiro took out his bow and arrows, trying to set it up. I spat one of the needles, breaking the string of the bow. Because it was a longbow, it bent back and smacked him on his perfect little nose. "OW! YOU-"

I had him dancing by spitting two needles at his feet. I felt Laelani getting closer. She was about ten meters off. I took out two kunai, holding them in both directions. Now to lure her out...

I turned toward Shiro, and bowed. Thinking I had given up, Laelani jumped out of the bushes and threw a bunch of weapons out of the bush. I could tell there were three kunai and four needles. Shuriken were coming at me from somewhere off to the west.

I jumped into the tree above, grabbing a branch with my left hand. The needles went past me and into Shiro. He gasped as he grabbed his chest where the needles had hit. They apparently had no idea I was so skilled. The worst thing you can do is underestimate your enemy.

"SHIRO!" Laelani screamed and ran toward him. "I'm sorry!"

She didn't reach him in time, and he fell face down. He was dead. So much for thinking he was a threat. Stupid Laelani, she killed him. I hated her more.

"Thanks Laelani," I said in a monotone. "I thought I would have to do that by myself."

"I hate you! You are going to die! I swear on Shiro!" she cried.

"Rule number one of ninjas, don't show emotion," I sounded like a robot. I pulled myself on the branch. Handseals formed infront of me. "I told him not to make me mad. I've always wanted to kill you, Laelani. You remind me of someone I hate. With your deceving looks, everyone thinks you are cute. But if I gave you flowers, you would have torn them to pieces. Laelani, I'll die, yes, but not because of you."

She backed up. I thought I was doing a good job of scaring her. The only ninjutsu I had mastered was one with chakra musical instruments, and I couldn't do it with my wrist. She thought I was actually doing a powerful ninjutsu.

"I really hate your little deceptions, you would do better to kill yourself!" I threatened.

She started crying. "No! Lia! Remember? We were best friends-"

"We were never best friends, you lied! You used me!"

She took out a kunai, throwing it in her throat. She fell ontop of Shiro. I collapsed on the branch. I had no one now. My friends tried to kill me, my family dead. I had to get away. I jumped off the tree and set my former teammates against my lucky tree. I took Shiro's bow and arrows. I grabbed one Laelani's kunai, the one she cherished. I pocketed the kunai, and decided to keep them as memoriam. I used some wood to create a pyre. No one said you didn't  
have to give a funeral to your best friend. I dug a hople and placed Shiro and Laelani in it.I burned them under that tree. I buried them and used the rocks I had thrown at the tree to make a marking. The marking of Otogakure.

I didn't feel hungry anymore. The blood from my leopard ear had dried, but I could smell its intensity. With my vision blurred from blood loss and new regrets, I ran faster toward the nearest destination, Konoha.


	4. Chapter 4

**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not us.**

Chapter Four--ROBIN

I walked along an unfamiliar path, but I knew I was headed south southeast without even looking up at the sky. I have a good sense of direction. That, and I'd been planning this for a few months now, and had managed to draw pretty accurate maps of the area ba-sed on traveler's tales.

They didn't know I was getting information from them. They must have just thought I was interested in their stories. In their lives. I'm special like that; I can make people feel okay.

I first realized I could do it when I got to Iwagakure. The Tsuchikage didn't want me anywhere near the village. I was an outsider, and furthermore, I was an outsider with memories of enemy locations. That intrigued him, but it scared him even more. But I would talk to the people near me, and I was just so adorable that they had to like me, they had to let me stay. And when they let me start my training, they had to keep me, and I let them because I had nowhere else to go.

So I listened to the travelers and I heard what they said, but mostly I heard what they didn't say, and when I was alone in my room at night, I would piece the information I had gathered together until it all made sense. And it always made sense.

My bag felt heavy on my shoulder. I shifted the pack to my front and looked through it. Plenty of backup weapons, containers for water, matches, a blanket, maps... I had packed lightly with food because I knew that it was easy enough to get. In fact, my reserves were dwindling a bit. I was ahead of my course, I could stop for a bit to gather what I needed.

I took a kunai from my leg holster and aimed at a bird in a nearby tree, but lowered the knife almost immediately. I couldn't kill it; it was an innocent. Who was I to kill an animal who had meant no harm to me? The bird turned to face me and cocked her head a bit. Another head poked out form her nest, two, three babies. If I had killed her...

So I set out for other food. Berries, mushrooms, herbs. I hate mushrooms, but if you put enough stuff on them, you don't gag quite so hard. I took some water from a stream and drank it, then refilled the bottle, storing it in my pack. I wasn't thirsty, but I still had a lot of walking to do, and I didn't mind the extra weight too bad. I tugged the little vial on my choker free from its cork, and with a shuriken, I bore a small hole in my left little finger where the blood flow was slowest. I held the vial underneath the dripping until it was full and resealed it with the cork. A bit of gauze made an appropriate bandage, ajdn the vial was returned to my choker.

I set out on the trail again and heard a rustling in a tree a bit beyond me and to my right. In a flash, I had hurled the shuriken I had used and the kunai I hadn't at the source of the sound. A body dropped from the tree, and the glint of me-tal on his forehead proved his shinobi status. A couple poisoned needles ensured that I wouldn't be followed.

South southeast along my trail. My bird sang faintly and I smiled. You, little bird, meant no harm towards me, and were spared from death along with your children. He had meant to kill me, and took your kunai for you. I couldn't kill you, and yet I feel no remorse for this man who was probably only following orders.

Curious.


	5. Chapter 5

**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not us.**

Part One--ROBIN

So much walking! I knew I'd be going really far, but there's a difference between knowing and realizing. So there I was, tired form all my travels but in reasonably good shape. I wasn't injured, save the self-inflicted injury to my little finger, and I was doing great with food and water. I was in good spirits, too, because I was coming up on Konohagakure right on schedule. I'd be at the village in a day or two at the rate I was going.

As I rounded a bend on the road, however, my hopes of staying on schedule were prompty crushed. The road was broad and smooth, but on the right side and about fifty meters ahead of me, there was a girl, a dark purple heap in the dust. From the sharp, uneven way her body moved as she breathed, I could tell she was seriously injured.

I increased my pace to a jog and was next to her in no time. She was undoubtedly naturally pale since she had red hair and freckles, but the dark stains on her right arm and left ear suggested that massive blood loss contibuted to the effect as well. Her breathing was ragged, and by the look on her face, I guessed she was in a sort of tormented sleep, probably triggered by exhaustion and injury. Her blood had dyed the bandages on her arm dark red. I tried my best to lift her, but only managed to drag her off the road.

I'd fix the wrist first. The inflamation and discolorationtold me she'd been hit by a poison senpon needle. Sucky location, too, since I couldn't slit the skin to drain the poison. I focused my chakra and made it penetrate the skin of her wrist. Once inside, I wove strands of my chakra together, forming a net that allowed her blood to pass through but that contained any poison it collected. The result: when I withrew my net from her wrist and released it, about a half-teaspoon of clear liquid spilled onto the grass, which wilted slightly. I took the rest of the bandages from her arm and replaced them with fresh ones after mixing some herbs and water to form a salve for her wrist.

Now the ear. The wound was deep, probably kunai-inflicted. No poison, though. That was good. All I'd need for this one was some water, a bit of the herb paste, and about a foot of guaze. She looked calmer now, and a bit of color was returning to her face. I propped her against a tree to maximize the blood flow and decided that I'd better stay until she came to, or else any poison that I hadn't gotten might strike back.

"Konoha..." she said it in her sleep. Probably dreaming. Was she from there? If she had those kinds of wounds, she was probably a ninja. I hadn't looked at her for anything but injuries yet, but when I saw the kunai holster and Otogakure forehead protector around her waist, I knew she was a Sound shinobi. Interesting... Sound headed to Leaf? She wasn't about to invade, that's for sure. Why, then, would she be so far from her village? Her dark purple boots were scuffed, and her thigh-length shirt of the same color and shorts were torn at the hems. From the looks of her, she'd either been out for a long time or just really unlucky.

I guessed I'd have to wait until she woke up for two reasons now, since I had to know the story behind her. She stirred some more in her sleep, and I knew I wouldn't have to wait long. If she was an enemy, she was at a disadvantage and probably couldn't fight effectively in her condition. Nonetheless, I took out a kunai and aimed, just in case.

---

Part Two--LIA

I woke up to something glinting about thirty centimeters from my face and a bunch of pain living in my wrist. I automatically triggered my bloodline limit. I gave up feeling subconsicuosly.

"Damn!" I said as the ears rose from my head and the fangs gave my enhanced taste something to complain about.

I realized that the silver thing was thrown at me. It was a kunai, the sound it made from the way it was thrown made it obvious. I ducked. It missed me, but barely. That meant someone was near. My eyes searched for the person while I sucked on the blood in my mouth. Ew, I hate my blood.

My eyes met a girl. She had brown hair and brown eyes. She didn't look like she would kill me, but she did have needles in between each of her fingers. She looked at me strangely. I probably looked like a frickin' moron right now, but I still got mad.

"What are you looking at?" I snarled, hoping she would leave.

"You." The answer bugged me. I would have attacked her, but judging by the new bandages on my arm and a splotch of wilted grass, I guessed she had gotten the poison from Shiro's needle out of my wrist.

"Why did you help me?" I asked, leaning against the tree she probably pulled me against.

"Because you looked like you needed it," was her answer. I did need it, but I wouldn't let her know that.

"So you decided to help a complete stranger? That's stupid as hell," I said.

"Hell is mythical, I don't think of that as an insult or a compliment," she replied. She came over and sat next to me. "Why are you in Konoha?"

"Long story short. No family, dead friends, so revenge," I looked at the sunset. The red clouds were scattered on the sky like blood. A sign?

"Oh, I could say the same," was her reply.

"Revenge? On who?" I asked. This girl intruiged me. She definately seemed like some one I could trust. That is if I did trust. Which I don't. Trusting is for stupid idiots.

"You probably haven't heard of them," she sighed.

"Try me," I challenged.

"But you have to tell me who you're trying to get," she looked me. Her stare was kind, but it was kinda creepy.

"You probably haven't heard of them," I mimicked.

"Hey!" she laughed. She laughed. I don't know why, but I smiled. She made it seem like she was a friend.

"Let's say it at the same time," I suggested. "Three, two, one..."

"Akatsuki!" we both said.

We laughed. Indeed, we were friends now. I hoped she wouldn't kill herself.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Shiranui Robin."

"Tsuchi Lia."

"Okay. I guess if we're both looking, we might as well look together," she smiled.

"Sure, why not? But where do we go from here? I'm thinking Sand..." I trailed off.

"Sunagakure?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go."

"Really?"

"Sure, why not?" Now she mimicked me.

"OK," I replied. A thought struck me... "Why were you headed to Konoha? You don't look like you're from around here."

She waved her hand dismissively. "It can wait."

I looked up again. The clouds above had darkened. A sign?


	6. Chapter 6

**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not us.**

Part One--LIA

"I. Hate. Walking," I glared at the ground.

"You hate everything," Robin laughed.

"I hate nothing. I hate NOTHINGNESS!" I yelled.

"That's contidictory. Like the heaven and hell argument," she said.

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Robin? Because it is freakin' WORKING!" I stomped on a rock in the road.

I was definitely in a bad mood. Maybe it was because we had been walking for three days straight. Maybe it was because I had to walk around uselessly. My wrist was still messed up, and I wasn't that good at throwing left-handed. I was a sitting, stupid duck.

"I HATE DUCKS!" I yelled, kicking up dirt.

Robin gave me a weird look, "Ducks?" She bit her lower lip, trying to keep from laughing. Robin wasn't a moron. She knew I would pounce on her if she even gave the smallest hint.

"Yes, ducks! They sit and reproduce! Nothing else! I hate pointlessness!" I took out a kunai and threw it at a tree. It hit the side of an apple and it fell. I picked it up and started eating it. "See? My aim is so off I just want to freakin' kill the stupid bas-"

"Don't. I hear something," Robin grabbed the apple from me and threw it at a bush. "Hide more stealthily if you want to try to surprise us." I winced, wishing she hadn't thrown my apple. I was hungry.

We heard laughing, maniacal. I decided to give up taste for my bloodline limit. The apple was taunting my taste buds something awful, and it was a distraction I just didn't need right now. The pain did not come from my mouth, thank god. But my new ears did cause me a bit.

"Hey, a bloodline limit and an easy picking. Very nice."

"They look small, so they probably won't offer much meat…"

"Shut up, idiot! It's a meal, regardless of the size."

Great, a perfect topping to this wonderful day. "I seriously HATE cannibals, even I don't eat other people," I muttered, reaching for my weapons pouch. My wrist throbbed in protest, but I would choose this nagging pain over death any day.

"For once, I have to agree with you," Robin muttered under her breath.  
"Listen hard. How many more can you hear?"

I concentrated. Hmm, I could hear about five more, breathing loudly. Morons. "I hear five. Chuunins, probably, by the way they're acting. Hm, no clue what village they are from, so I don't know their tactics. So, what's the--"

"Here's what we're gonna do," Robin started giving me this plan in extreme detail. "Ready? Steady? Go!" she whispered harshly.

Part Two--ROBIN

They couldn't hear our little conversation, as they were deciding who would get to eat what parts of us. I'm usually okay with people, but, um, ew.

They weren't ninja. It was obvious to me from the start, even if they did have some sort of knowledge on kekkei genkai. They were too loud, too easily detectable for me to hear them before Lia. This would be interesting. I sneezed. Lia took the cue.

"Mister..." she called out to them. The hilarity I felt at this sudden  
switch from anger to seemingly-helplessness on Lia's part didn't show on my face, but I sneezed again to force down a smile. If we looked weak, sick, afraid, stupid... "Mister," she called out again. "Please don't hurt us. Just let us go..." Lia was creeping me out a little. I had the feeling she'd done this before. "Please, just let us go!"

Her voice got higher, hysterical. She looked over her shoulders, as if looking for a way to get away from them. I just sank to the ground 'sobbing.' It's amazing how easy it is to look like you're crying. We were overdoing it, but it would work. These guys weren't brilliant, and, well... I was.

Sure enough, the first one to speak emerged from the bush where I'd thrown Lia's apple with a little bump on his forehead. He wore a grey shirt and leggings with a bit of fabric tied around his forehead to keep his hair back, although it was so short that he didn't need it. The other four followed suit, appearing from behind bushes and jumping out of trees. They all wore similar clothing.

In a flash, Lia and I were on our feet and in attack position. Senpon needles glinted in between her fingers, and shuriken surrounded each of the fingers on my right hand. No matter how good their bloodline limit knowledge was, they had underestimated us because of our size and sex. Definitely not ninja, or at least not good ones.

One of the guys reached for a pouch on his leg. Lia hurled two needles and pierced the bag shut, probably straight through to the bone. He fell over on the ground writing in pain as the first guy charged for Lia. A guy who'd come out of a tree went for me. I forgot Lia, knowing that she'd do fine on her own. Even though she was tired, hungry, and injured, I knew her well enough by now to know that the frustration she felt would only be channeled into her fighting, and she was definitely in a mood for taijutsu.

I however, was woefully lacking in that area. I tried my best with this guy.  
I mean, I'd fought bigger. I'd just never won. He was close now... Close enough to jump...

And I ducked. He tried to grab at my head, but my hair was too short for him to keep hold of. He did manage, however, to steady himself enough to land on his feet, right behind me. I tried to right myself. I tried to dodge. But he was behind me, and my peripheral vision could only go so far, and so I wasn't able too predict his next move to well. I felt one of his arms clamp around my middle. His other arm pressed a kunai to my throat. He had turned me in a way so that I could just see that Lia had finished with two guys already, but she had her hands full with two more. I was on my own here.

But the idiot had already made four mistakes. The first one was showing me the state of the fight. The second was the way he had grabbed me-- my hands were just able to meet in front of me. The third was underestimating us...

And the forth was touching a girl with a vial of blood around her neck.


	7. Chapter 7

**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not us.**

Part One--ROBIN

The man behind me pressed the kunai to my throat. I felt the tip slice through a bit of my skin; I felt my blood bead at the edge of the cut and slide down my neck.

"Look at her!" he cried to no one in particular-- no, to me. To make me mad, to make me lose my head. It wouldn't work. "Look at one! Caught, now, aren't we?"

i Dark cloaks, one on either side of me. A voice from under a straw hat. Quiet, eerie. "Caught, now, aren't we, child?" The cloaked figures drew closer. /i

The cut continued to drip, and my own blood trailed down my right arm, making a dark streak across the tan of my skin. Somehow, the warm blood made me squeemish and I looked away.

"Gave up, did you, girlie?" he leered, right in my ear. I could smell his foul breath, and my nose wrinkled. But an idea came to me. With his head next to mine...

And I brought my foot into his crotch. His knees buckled, and although he tried to hold on to me, the kunai fell from his grip. I spun free, taking shuriken from my weapon stash as I went. By the time I finished my turn, his face was peppered with shuriken, and he was staggering backwards, tryng to pull them out. I did the honors, calling my weapons back with the wires in my hands and hurling them again. He fell over, and after a few well-placed kicks, he moved no more. I turned to face Lia, who was just finishing off the last guy.

"Only one? Jeez, Robin," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Shut up, Lia."

Part Two--LIA

With that taken care of, we proceded to search them.

"This smells like rotting human," I picked up the meat with needles and threw it against a tree. "Burn it, now!"

"To give the poor human a funeral," Robin got it right away. "Lia?"

"What?" I asked, while throwing more meat against the tree, my nose finding the human portion.

"You do it," she said.

"Why?" more meat was flung at the tree.

She shrugged. I guess she didn't like this sort of thing.

"Whatever," I threw the last of my needles against the tree, meat attached. With that taken care of, handseals formed infront of me. I took an arrow, blew on it, and fired it at the tree. The tree burst into flames.

"Let's go, now!" Robin pulled my right wrist. I twitched, it wasn't fully healed. She must have gathered all the food.

"Why?" I asked, likeing the warmth of the tall fire.

"The fire will attract more, and unless you like to kill peo-"

"Don't say that," I said in a dark voice. "There's only one person I want to kill."

She started down the road, and I waited a moment before I followed. I stared into the fire, wishing I hadn't used all my needles, wondering what all those people were named, if they had families...

I shouldn't care, I reminded myself. I shook off the feeling and ran a bit to catch up to Robin.

"So only one?" I joked.

It was dark, but the failing light and my enhanced vision picked up a slight smile, but aside from that, her expression was unreadable.

"Shut up, Lia."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight--ROBIN

i I was little. Five-ish. I had a family, I had friends, I had a home, and I showed promise. Even at an early age, word of Konoha's genius seeped out. I loathe that word. Seeping. It always reminds me of spills. Of mistakes.

I was out one day, in the meadows away from the busy of the village. Sneaking through the village gates had been a thrill for me at first, but now the feeling had ebbed until it was just a sort of swish inside of my stomach. I spent the morning climbing trees and weaving the tall grass, intertwining flowers and herbs to make elaborate braids.

Everything was in bloom. I picked thyme, chamomile, rosemary, mint and stored them so that they could be dried into tealeaves when I got home. I could tell it was getting late, and I told myself I'd go home just as soon as I finished my harvest. A cloud passed over my sun, but I continued to weave. When I had finished, I pushed myself up and dusted off my clothes with my hands. Only when I had finished did I look up.

Dark cloaks, one on either side of me. A voice from under a straw hat. Quiet, eerie. "Caught, now, aren't we, child?" The figures drew closer. As they closed in, I flipped backwards on my hands, landing a couple of yards backwards crouching on my hands and toes. I sprung upwards and ran for all I had. The speed was impressive for a five year old, but the other two were shinobi, and I hadn't even started my training yet. In no time they had grabbed me, and even as I bit down hard on the arm containing me, a foot met me viciously in the ribs. Involuntarily, I released hold on his arm, which now bled freely. As soon as I did, I was plunged into darkness.

Unconscious? I remember that. I remember thinking I was unconscious. But I realized that I was still thrashing, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw that I was in a bag. Burlap, by the holes in the weave. But I couldn't penetrate the fabric, no matter how much I thrashed and no matter how hard I bit. Chakra reinforced, it appeared. So I gave up trying to break the bag and focused on the guys carrying me. I screamed at them, at no one; my first noise since I'd first seen them. I punched, kicked, screamed...

...And was hurled to the ground. A boot-clad foot struck me again and again until a kick to my head stopped my struggles. Before losing myself, the scent of the blood from my face mingled with the herbs in my pocket, eventually smothering the sweet smell, and I drifted into unconsciousness for real. /i 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine--ROBIN

Days after our run-in with the cannibals, Lia announced that her wrist was almost completely healed; only remembering its injury with a tingling in the cold. We hadn't made nearly as much progress as we had hoped, but after our last fight, we didn't feel like going quite so fast. Lia didn't say anything, but I know she was bothered by the incident. Her complaints lessened until she was nearly silent. Sure, I welcomed a break in her pessimism, but the silence that resulted was almost unbearable.

At night, though, she was far from silent. Even from where I slept in a tree, I understood every emotion she suppressed during the day—consciously or otherwise—through her constant mumblings at night. They weren't loud, and anyone else would have slept through them entirely. I, however, was not anyone else and was kept awake for hours at a time, despite my attempts at relocation.

I never said anything about it to her because it didn't seem like too much of a problem. She asked me why I looked so awful once, but I pleaded insomnia. I guessed she had enough troubles as it was, and I saw no need to add another one to her load.

Even when I was able to sleep, I had no rest. My dreams had returned and were hard at work relaying information to me, telling me things. Not psychotic things; never psychotic things. But Sunagakure… There was something wrong there. People were upset, some were hysterical… But my stupid vague dreams would only tell me what they were feeling and not what was causing it. So if Lia was plagued by her own emotions in her dreams, then I was haunted by the feelings of others.

I did not rush our movements, as their anguish was lasting, neither getting progressively better or worse. We would arrive, I knew, in a few days. Three or four, but maybe two if we were lucky. And we were lucky enough, finally catching sight of the village's taller buildings over the tops of rolling sand dunes dyed pink in the failing sunlight. We set up camp for the night, deciding that we would approach the village in the sunlight.

There was no tree for me amongst the sandy hills, so I dug a quick hole in the sand. It fell away easily at the top, but a foot or so down, it became tightly packed, holding together not by water, but by the pressure of a million footsteps. When my burrow was complete, I climbed in, eventually settling in a rough fetal position. Lia threw a blanket down to me, and I wriggled until I was comfortable.

"Can't you ever sleep normally?" she asked laughingly for the surface.

"Oh, ha ha. We're in a i desert /i Lia. It'll get really cold really fast, and the sand is warm."

"You might've said something earlier…"

"Sorry 'bout that." She disappeared from my field of vision, and shortly I heard the scratching sounds of her burrowing to my left a bit. I listened to her dig for a while, but when she had finished, I looked up to see the most amazing stars I had ever seen. "Lia, look…" she followed my pointing hand, the tips of my fingers barely visible from above the top of my hole.

"Suna people see the same stars…" she trailed off.

I didn't dream that night.


End file.
